We recently published some good news about the success of the transition of some ServiceOntario locations into Staples locations.
Unfortunately, now we have some bad news to share.
We have been receiving calls from some members who complain that some ServiceOntario locations are refusing them service. Outright refusing to serve them!
One member’s experience went like this:
He used to do business at a specific licence office.
His Dealer Authorization Letter, which now has to be renewed every 3 months because of new MTO requirements, expired. This letter tells the office which individuals are authorized by you to do vehicle transactions on behalf of your dealership.
This caused the licence office to drop him from their list of regular dealers using their services and they refused to reinstate him with a new Dealer Authorization Letter. They refused to serve him. He tried other offices and they too refused to take his business.
We doubted this was even legal, so we reached out to the Ministry.
They relented somewhat, but not by much.
This is what they had to say:
“This office has communicated to all dealers since August 2024 that they are unable to accept new dealer registrations due to the additional services and high volume of customers. This office has made an operational decision to focus on their regular dealers, which they implemented, March 2025.
*********** had not been to the office at ************ since August 2024 and, as a result, was removed from their dealer logbook.
While this office is unable to reinstate their dealer status, they are still welcome to complete their transactions by joining the general queue.
As well, appointments can be booked online at select ServiceOntario centres up to four weeks in advance of your visit at https://www.ontario.ca/page/book-serviceontario-appointment“
We told the Ministry this answer was unacceptable to our member.
The “unable to reinstate their dealer status” part in particular.
We continue this discussion with them and are trying to elevate the issue to the Minister directly, but he will not agree to meet with us as of right now.
Meanwhile, if you have an existing relationship with your local licence office, try not to let your Dealer Authorization Letter expire or talk to your office about their policy so you do not get a nasty surprise.